Pad Thai

Does anyone have any tried and tested recipes for pad thai that approximate this restaurant style dish? I am thinking of trying Cook's Illustrated version for an upcoming dinner party but wanted to know if there was something better out there.

I can't see the Cook's Illustrated recipe - I guess you need a login. I got to see a 'teaser' which recommended soaking in hot water. That's a good idea if you want a big soggy mush of noodles when you fry it. If you want your noodles to be separate strands, soak them in room-temp water instead. My recommendation when making Thai food is to stick to sites which are either written by Thais, or specialize only in Thai food. I've seen way too many recipes on the web which were scary to say the least. :)

It doesn't turn out like a soggy mess. It turns out exactly like the Pad Thai I've had in restaurants, both in the U.S. and Thailand. You soak in hot tap water, not boiling, and only for 20 minutes.

Cook's usually "borrows" (I use that term loosely) from authentic recipes, so I think there's no need to denigrate the recipe just because you don't see a Thai name beside it. Especially if you haven't tried it (or, um, even read the thing). Some of the worst cooks of any cuisine are native eaters, anyway!

Pad Thai7/2002

A wok might be the implement of choice in restaurants and the old country, but a large 12-inch skillet (nonstick makes cleanup easy) is more practical for home cooks. Although pad thai cooks very quickly, the ingredient list is long, and everything must be prepared and within easy reach at the stovetop when you begin cooking. For maximum efficiency, use the time during which the tamarind and noodles soak to prepare the other ingredients. Tofu is a good and common addition to pad thai. If you like, add 4 ounces of extra-firm tofu or pressed tofu (available in Asian markets) cut into 1/2-inch cubes (about 1 cup) to the noodles along with the bean sprouts.

1. Soak tamarind paste in 3/4 cup boiling water for about 10 minutes, then push it through a mesh strainer to remove the seeds and fibers and extract as much pulp as possible. Stir fish sauce, rice vinegar, sugar, cayenne, and 2 tablespoons oil into tamarind liquid and set aside.

2. Cover rice sticks with hot tap water in large bowl; soak until softened, pliable, and limp but not fully tender, about 20 minutes. Drain noodles and set aside. Beat eggs and 1/8 teaspoon salt in small bowl; set aside.

3. Heat 1 tablespoon oil in 12-inch skillet (preferably nonstick) over high heat until just beginning to smoke, about 2 minutes. Add shrimp and sprinkle with remaining 1/8 teaspoon salt; cook, tossing occasionally, until shrimp are opaque and browned about the edges, about 3 minutes. Transfer shrimp to plate and set aside.

I have also made that Cooks Illustrated recipe and it was excellent. It is very similar to a recipe I have from a great (but now gone) Thai restaurant in Maryland right outside of D.C. The dried shrimp and salted preserved radish are the key to authenticity in this recipe. They help with the fishy/sour/salty taste components, as does the tamarind and fish sauce.

I have made the recipe from C.I. several times, and it is great, and much better than those from my many cookbooks. I leave out the radish, as I don't have it, but if you follow the recipe for the sauce and get everything in order for a flash wok cook, it will be wonderful, trust me.

INGREDIENTS COMMENTS:1. Ingredients list:As you can see above, this recipe has about 20 ingredients for Pad Thai. To me, I like the above recipe's list of ingredients, or something similar. About 3 ingredients are those you may have to go to a Thai/Asian grocery store to buy on purpose for this recipe specifically, like (dried shrimp, sweet preserved radish daikon, and tamarind paste). And, a few ingredients, are southasian ingredients that you may have, that can be used on multiple other dishes, rice wine vinegar, fish sauce, peanut oil. And, then, of course, the other ingredients can probably be bought at a nice grocery store/produce place.

2. Soy sauce or sweet versions are bad:If you choose to just buy half the ingredients, or just substitute soy sauce, or a sweet sauce, you will have a pile of Chinese stir fried noodles, or a sweet mush of noodles. It would be similar to ordering Pad Thai from a place that does Chinese/Thai takeout and doesn't use all of the correct ingredients. I think it is very important to have at least some of the preserved radish, that probably is one of the stronger flavors, if you don't like too much of it, start out with just a bit in the beginning. It counters the sweet taste of the rest of the dish. As for the tamarind, there are probably multiple options, from making it on your own, to buying a little container in a jar, and I would probably go with something easy in the beginning.

3. Leaving ingredients out:Ok, if you don't have scallions/shallots, that would be fine. Once you start removing peanuts and bean sprouts from your garnish, it gets a bit lonely. You could probably substitute lemon for lime. You maybe could skip the rice vinegar and peanut oil. You could kind of use some pre-made pad thai mix if you carefully check the ingredients to make sure it includes tamarind and dried radish somehow, but not an imitation soy sauce blend. Basically, I would buy the dry ingredients one day to stock up. ANd, then right before you want to make it, get your bean sprouts, lime, etc....

I want to apologize for the tone of my original post above. I re-read it now and it sounds awful bitchy, which was not my intention at all. I wrote it quickly and didn't think about it. I read 'hot water' in the recipe and dismissed it because I've read so many Thai recipes online which were totally incorrect. Again, sorry for the tone!

I made Chez Pim's recipe tonight after seeing this thread - it was great! I do have one question - I saw palm sugar at my Asian grocery store but figured I would just use plain white sugar since I had plenty of that at home. Is there much difference in the final product if you use palm sugar, and if so, what's the difference?

Palm sugar has a really nice flavor. It reminds me of the maple sugar candy I used to eat when I was a kid (but less sweet). It gives a certain flavor to the food along with the sweetness. I recommend trying it and seeing if you can taste a difference in the final product. You can also use the leftovers to make Thai sweets. :)

There are usually two types sold -- hard cakes in a plastic bag, and plastic tubs with a lid. I recommend the tubs because they are sealed and don't dry out -- a lot easier to use the sugar that way. They are sometimes sealed with wax too to prevent drying.

Yes, there is a difference in flavor. However, pad thai is not something that is carved in stone like the ten commandments. There is allowance for variation in preference, and white sugar is one perfectly acceptable variation.

I was surfing youtube when I ran across this user named "thaifoodmaster". If you are looking for some serious authenticity, his videos are the best (he lived in thailand for quite a while). Here's one of him making pad thai,

Regarding that video, it would have been more useful to westerners if quantities had been specified, and I think that the amount of noodles added was too small relative to the amounts of other stuff.

Note that there was NO ketchup or other tomato-based ingredient as is becoming far too common here in the U.S. Also note that when everything was on the plate the cook added little piles of sugar, ground peanuts and ground hot pepper on the side. This allows the eater to mix in as much or as little of those things as he/she wants and does away with another major problem of most stateside pad thais in that they come to the table much too sweet. Lastly, note that the dish is quite dry when done. It is not swimming in some gloppy sauce.

Obtaining the banana flowers mentioned as a garnish is impossible here in the states. They are not canned and no one has them fresh. But they add a rather sharp bitterness that is nicely toned by the palm and granulated sugar.

I'm pretty sure you can find banana flowers in asian grocery stores like H mart or Grand mart, I believe I've seen them around. Even then, I've seen so many thai and vietnamese restaurants use banana flower that it would seem that it had to come from somewhere

Her recipe uses tamarind pulp, which is different than tamarind concentrate. Not surprisingly (and not trying to be snarky here) -- tamarind concentrate is a lot more concentrated! The Cook's Illustrated recipe has adjustments depending on whether you're using pulp, concentrate, or lime juice -- for concentrate, you'd use less and add some water, as you suspected. I think the ratio they suggest is something like 1 tablespoon concentrate to 2/3 cup of hot water.

Not snarky at all, the fact that the jar said concentrate led me to belive that I should add water (no instructions on the jar). I did a quick search for tamarind concentrate and nothing popped up about adding water and as the consistency didn't seem too thick out of the jar I went with it. I should have asked the person at the store if I should add water.

You don't necessarily need to with every recipe, but if you're substituting for tamarind pulp in a recipe it usually helps because tamarind pulp is reconstituted in water. So you want to use less concentrate than you would use pulp, and you also want to add some water to make up for the lesser amount of liquid. But I occasionally use tamarind concentrate in Indian dishes without adding water.